World fleet reaches milestone
According to data from Clarksons Research, the global merchant fleet of ships passed the threshold of 100,000 units (with more than 100 GT) at the beginning of February. A total of 100,001 vessels were registered, with an average tonnage of 21,355 dwt and an average age of the units of 21.7 years.
Thus, the world fleet reaches an approximate tonnage of 2,100 million dwt, a tonnage of 1,400 million GT and an estimated value of USD 976 billion.
Counted in dwt, about 46% of the vessels are run by Asian shipping companies, while European carriers control about a third of the world fleet.
As to earlier milestones, the total world merchant fleet surpassed the 70,000 mark exactly 15 years ago, in February 2006. Since then, the average size of ships has increased by 57%. (cd)